Up Popped the 2 Lips

Henry Threadgill, Henry Threadgill And Make a Move | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 13, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Pi Recordings
• ASIN: B00005RTRX
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,814 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Zooid, Threadgill's international string sextet, November 17, 2001

By 

R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Up Popped the 2 Lips (Audio CD)

I've been eagerly anticipating hearing Henry Threadgill's new band, Zooid, since reading about their NYC debut a year ago. Released simultaneously with "Everybody's Mouth's a Book," with the Make a Move quintet, "Up Popped the Lips" marks yet another textural innovation for Threadgill.

Zooid is a string sextet, with acoustic guitar, cello and oud. Yes, oud! Must be a first for jazz. Tarik Benbrahim, the oud player, is Moroccan, tuba player Jose Davila is Puerto Rican, and drummer Dafnis Prieto is Cuban! After the first several listens, I'm not quite as impressed by this record as I am by EMAB (see my review). The album closes strongly -- "Did You See That" features oud and flute, and "Do the Needful" is the most dynamic track, with an urgent alto solo, rollicking drums and tuba, and lovely strings for backdrop. Elsewhere UPTL falls prey to Threadgill's lugubrious tendency and loses momentum from time to time. Despite the excellent sound (with mixing by Bill Laswell), the three string instruments are sometimes indistinct, which must then be a problem with the composition, not the production. So if you are going to hear just one of the two new Threadgill, records, I have to recommend EMAB over "Up Popped the Two Lips." But why choose?

Henry Threadgill has been signed by major labels twice that I can recall, by Novus (a subsidiary of BMG) in the 80s -- "You Know the Number" was the first of 3 releases by his Sextet, and it's time to reissue them! -- and then by Sony in the 90s, which released 3 records by his Very Very Circus and Make a Move in 1995 and 1997. Otherwise, he has recorded for a number of independent labels, including Black Saint/Soul Note, so returning to an independent label is nothing new. Threadgill has never compromised his vision, and while I'm sure he wouldn't have minded making more money over the years, I'm glad he hasn't quit!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First great jazz album of the new millenium, May 9, 2002

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Up Popped the 2 Lips (Audio CD)

Original concept? Yeah. Unique instrumentation (including cello, tuba, and oud)? Yep. Flawless execution? You got it. It's all here. Henry Threadgill, master iconoclast, has come up with something simple incredible. He always seems to know exactly the right move. Just a small example: relegating that weird guitar master, Liberty Ellman, to acoustic guitar. Why not let him wail away on his electric axe? Because by reining him in, he gets the exact sonic texture he wants, with the added bonus of some truly exotic sounds wrenched from the acoustic.

This is the album where Henry Threadgill's years of laboring in the fields of musical weirdness finally come home to roost: Everything comes together in spectacular fashion. There's not a false note in the bunch. If you've got big enough ears, check it out. I guarentee you won't be disappointed.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars tight band, June 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Up Popped the 2 Lips (Audio CD)

this band is very tight. I specially enjoyed the drummer's work on this recording.